Marina Milner-Bolotin, Heather Fisher & Alexandra MacDonald

Sunday, January 5, 2014

AAPT 2014 Orlando, Florida

Exploring Technology-Enhanced Active Learning in Physics Teacher Education Part 1/2

Modeling Active Engagement in Teacher Education

1. What are your reasons for choosing active engagement pedagogies in physics teacher education courses?

2. How do you know if these pedagogies are having a positive impact on teacher-candidates?

3. What is the role of technology in this process?

Technology-Enhanced Active Engagement

PW&PI

Research-Based Objectives

Model AE in the context of the

course content

Explore a possible mechanism for AE

pedagogy

Investigate the effect of Active Engagement (AE) on teacher-

candidates’ (TCs’) epistemologies

Course-Based Objectives

Experience learning science

through AE

Evaluate/develop resources that

match TCs’ values

Create a long-term connection with UBC community

Value conceptual knowledge

Math & Science Teaching & Learning through Technology

Navigating the Resource

Navigating the Resource

http://scienceres-edcp-educ.sites.olt.ubc.ca/

Integrating into the Classroom

Instructor modeling AE pedagogy

TCs experience developing questions

Question TitleQuestion TitleBlocks and a Pulley

m2

m1

Question Title

Two blocks are connected via a pulley. The blocks are initially at rest as

block m1 is attached to a wall. If string A breaks, what will the accelerations

of the blocks be? (Assume friction is very small and strings don’t stretch)

Question TitleBlocks and a Pulley II

m2

m1

A B 1 2

1 2

1 2

1 2

A. 0; 0

B. ;

C. 0;

D. ; 0

E. None of the above

a a

a g a g

a a g

a g a

Why are the assumptions above important?

Comments

Answer: E

Justification: None of the above answers is correct. Consider two blocks as one system: one can see that the system has a mass of (m1+m2), while the net force pulling the system down is m1g. Therefore, applying Newton’s second law, one can see that the acceleration of the system must be less than g:

Some people think that the acceleration will be g. They forget that the system consists of two blocks (not just m1) and the only pulling force is m1g. Thus the system is NOT in a free fall. Compare this questions to the previous one to see the difference.

CommentsSolution

2 2

1 2 1 2

m g ma g g

m m m m

Integrating into the Classroom

TCs experience developing questions

Instructor modeling AE pedagogy

Technology-Enhanced Active Engagement Integration

PI modeled in every class

PW used to design, critique, respond to Conceptual Questions as a community of future teachers

• Beatty, I., Gerace, W., Leonard, W., & Defresne, R. (2006). Designing Effective Questions for Classroom Response System Teaching. American Journal of Physics, 74(1), 31–39.

• CWSEI Clicker Resource Guide: An Instructors Guide to the Effective Use of Personal Response Systems (Clickers) in Teaching. (2009, June 1).

• Lasry, Nathaniel. (2008). Clickers or Flashcards: Is There Really a Difference? The Physics Teacher, 46(May), 242-244.

• Milner-Bolotin, Marina. (2004). Tips for Using a Peer Response System in the Large Introductory Physics Classroom. The Physics Teacher, 42(8), 47-48.

• Mishra, P., & Koehler, M. J. (2007). Technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPCK): Confronting the wicked problems of teaching with technology. In Society for Information Technology & Teacher Education International Conference (Vol. 2007, pp. 2214–2226). Retrieved from http://www.editlib.org/p/24919/

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